Newspaper icon
The latest issue of Financial Standard now available as an e-newspaper
READ NOW

Economics

Oil's not so slick

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 20 JUN 2017
The problem is that OPEC's reduced production is being undermined by rising production by US oil companies.

Central Banks fail to disappoint

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 19 JUN 2017
The world's four major central banks - the Fed, the ECB, the BOJ and the BOE - and the RBA met over the past forthnight and not a single one failed market expectations.

Confidence: the business/household divide

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 14 JUN 2017
How long could business conditions and confidence hold up in the face of weakening consumer confidence and, by extension, consumer spending?

May the force's not with her

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 13 JUN 2017
What UK Prime Minister Theresa May expected as a landslide win at the snap 8 June general elections turned out to be a slide at the polls for the Conservatives instead.

Cloudy skies in the land of the rising sun

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 9 JUN 2017
With the prices of Australia's major commodity exports (coal and iron ore) trending lower this year, let's all take a minute of silence to pray that yesterday's report of a massive slump in exports was indeed an aberration caused by Cyclone Debbie that ...

Better, but not good enough

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 8 JUN 2017
"Better, but not good enough": this is how the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) sees developments in the global economy.

Economic growth slows to 1.7pct but not as bad as feared

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 7 JUN 2017
Australia's economic scorecard is out. GDP growth has plummeted to 0.3% in the March quarter from 1.1% last quarter, leaving economic growth at a lackluster 1.7%.

Five minutes of sunshine tomorrow?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 6 JUN 2017
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) 'Business Indicators' report (released yesterday) eased growing concerns that tomorrow's National Accounts would show that the Australian economy weakened sharply - if not outright contracted -- in the first ...

US labour market covfefe

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 5 JUN 2017
The US employment report for May could not be put in the "good news is good news and bad news is good news" box for while it was a right royal disappointment to market expectations, most expect that another 25 bps hike in the fed funds rate would be ...

Super funds condemn Trump climate withdrawal

ALEX BURKE  |  FRIDAY, 2 JUN 2017
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), representing $1.5 trillion in funds under management, has condemned US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the country from the Paris Agreement on climate change.